âIâm surprised youâre visiting me.â Emperor Ji Meng poured tea for Argrave. âI thought I might see you only when it was absolutely necessary.â
In truth, Argrave himself was the most surprised heâd ended up here. Emperor Ji Meng had been a very large obstacle when theyâd first met, then became a snake waiting for an opportunity to strike after heâd been imprisoned. Now, the old man might be considered a docile predator. Clean-shaven, wearing luxurious Great Chu-style robes, and devoid of any and all magic⊠frankly, he looked better than ever. And why wouldnât he be? He enjoyed an emperorâs lifestyle without any responsibility. But there were still gluts of knowledge in that head of his.
âI need fresh eyes. Experienced eyes,â Argrave responded. âThereâs not many other people that have experience with as large a nation as you do. When it comes down to it⊠Iâm realizing the larger things get, you end up dealing with a few elites. Your commands trickle down from there. My problem lies in how Iâve handled some things with those elites. I donât want the negative effects trickling down to my people.â
Ji Meng picked up his own tea. âIâll need more specifics.â
âI tried to bestow an⊠important position, letâs say, impartially. In so doing, I just made everyone a little miffed. I canât afford any flaws right now, not with things as they are.â Argrave looked to the side, thinking. âAnd on the other end of the spectrum, Iâm dealing with an erratic personality whose cooperation is extremely important. Heâs selfish in a⊠hedonistic way.â
Ji Meng sipped his drink, then set it down. He rubbed his finger around the rim of the cup. âImpartiality is a foolâs errand in our seat. The simple fact is, some people are better suited for reward. Some people you donât need to reward, because they donât complain enough to matter. Even if you kick them, theyâll come crawling back. Some people only work for reward. And some⊠no reward will be enough. Those people will get the most done, but they can also try and plant a dagger in your back. But youâve already made the mistake, if I hear you right.â
Argrave nodded. âYou do.â
âDo you have a good relationship with these people?â
âYes,â Argrave answered without hesitation.
Ji Meng drank, thinking. âDo they have rapport with each other?â
Argrave considered that. âSome of them.â
âYes, your closest confidants were your family, as I recall,â Ji Meng mused. âFriends and family donât make especially good officials, Iâve found. The problems become all the more personal. Their disappointment is substantially greater when they expect something from you, and you donât deliver.â
âThat⊠holds true.â đ§đłđźđźđđŠđ«đ·đ°đ·âŻđ.đŹâŽđź
âYou canât be seen as trying to placate them,â Ji Meng cautioned. âNor can you show indecision by retracting the position. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is disarm yourself. I mean, look what Iâve done.â He gestured all around. âGiving a show of faith, a show of goodwill, can earn you a great deal. It canât be forced, canât be inorganic. You have to be patient. A chance will come, as it did for me. As for the other question, this erratic fellow⊠what do you need him to do?â
âMake a sacrifice for the greater good of the nation,â Argrave said.
Ji Meng winced, inhaling sharply through his teeth. âOuch. Quite the ask. And you canât drag him to the altar yourself, bleed him?â
âHeâd smile if I tried.â Argrave shook his head. âNo. It has to be something he does willingly. Itâs his talent, his ability.â
âWould you describe him as self-important? Did he inherit all he had?â
âSelf-important, sure. Inheritance⊠absolutely not.â Argrave crossed his arms. âHe crawled his way up from the very bottom. An orphan.â
âI can work with that. It tells me that he had ambition at some point, but something changed that.â Ji Meng inhaled deeply, then something seemed to come to him. âYou need to ruin his hobbies, somehow.â
âRuin them?â Argrave narrowed his eyes. âYou mean, stop him from doing them?â
âNo. Heâll just come up with clever ways to get past whatever obstacles you erect. You claimed he was hedonistic. He gravitates toward debauchery for a reason. If you can find that reason, you can twist it so that the things that he does bring him no pleasure. When the joy turns to sand in his mouth⊠people like that, they canât stand with their emotions. They have to keep moving, keep going, keep seeking the next thing. Because if they stop to reflect, whatever it is theyâre avoiding will catch up with them.â Ji Meng spread his arms wide. âAnd so youâll come, giving him a chance to feel something. Even if that something is pain.â
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âHmm.â Argrave leaned back. âWhat if I make it very easy to get everything he wants? Bombard him with drugs, liquors, et cetera.â
âYou could kill him,â Ji Meng pointed out.
âNot if I tried.â
âWell⊠even still, I donât think itâll work. He sounds like one of those people whom no reward will ever satisfy that I mentioned earlier.â Ji Meng fell into deep thought.
âWhat if I showed him something more than he could handle?â Argrave questioned. âSomething far beyond what he was willing to endure?â
âThose opportunities are few and far between,â Ji Meng said. âWhen you attempt to uproot the desire with fear, scaring someone straight is seldom the actual resultâespecially in adults.â
âI think I know something that could work.â Argrave drank the whole teacup in one go, then set it down. âNice tea.â
âThat isnât really how youâre supposed to enjoy it, but you made an attempt, I suppose.â Ji Meng raised his cup. âI hope this becomes a regular thing. Itâs nice to put my hat back in the arena, once in a while.â
Argrave smiled at him. âMaybe not. I would hate if you got the wrong idea.â
Ji Meng laughed heartily. âI can see why that might cause problems.â
âYouâve turned the place around, somewhat. Made it a bit more⊠human.â Garm looked up at the entrance to the Low Way of the Rose. They stood on the side of the Burnt Desert. A new road had been paved, facilitating trade between the southern deserts of black sand and the more fertile valleys of Vasquer. Even now, some few caravans entered into the vast cavern below.
âBut I also canât see why Iâm here.â Garm looked at Argrave.
âMelanie and Elenore did all the renovations. I canât take credit. But you really canât guess why I brought you back?â Argrave asked him. âYou asked a rather pertinent question last night, my friend. The Order of the Rose collapsed. No one really knows why.â He gestured toward Garm. âYou can fix that. You can find out how and why each and every one of these people died.â
Garm narrowed his eyes. âA lot of people die without knowing the reason. A rockfall, a trip, a flood of blood⊠just because they died, doesnât mean it can be explained. Perhaps it was divine providence.â
âWe know that canât be true,â Argrave disagreed. âBut itâs a lot more than that. We can take a stroll down memory lane. We can reminiscence about puddles of blood that used to be there, and necromantic abominations that once attempted to eat the face of passersby, or the vampires protecting a vault of books they couldnât even reach.â
âWell and good. But do you have time for strolls?â Garm questioned.
âFor you, old buddy? Why not.â He rolled his shoulder. âAnd hey, this isnât just for my curiosity. This is for you, too.â
âI fail to see how.â Garm frowned.
âYou asked me something yesterday, through your haze of wine and mead. Why did your son kill you?â Argrave shrugged. âItâs a good question. And since this is the first place you died, we can do a comparison: before and now. We can run through how much youâve changed in the centuries you spent staring at a door. I think, though, youâll be far more interested in the life of your son, or the life of his mother. You can answer those questions you had last night, you realize. The âwhyâ of it.â
Garmâs invulnerable temperament finally proved a fa?ade as he was rendered speechless.
âIs the idea a bit much?â Argrave scratched the back of his head. âYeah. I suppose I was a little thoughtless. If you donât feel youâre up to it, we can turn back.â
âYouâre not half as subtle or manipulative as you think you are,â Garm cut in harshly.
Argrave laughed, his reverse psychology called out. âAll cajoling aside, you have to admit⊠it does make you curious, doesnât it? Why would your son betray you? Was it just cold-blooded practicality, or was there something else? Maybe it was out of some twisted sense of affection. Either way, he probably died somewhere in there.â
âA lot of people died âsomewhere in there,â you realize. Malgeridum was the capital of death in the world.â Garm kneeled before the gaping opening in the mountain. âYou didnât stay here for long if you didnât have a little sadism in your blood.â
âEither way, we can finally find out so many answers,â Argrave continued. âEven Erlebnis didnât know just how the Order of the Rose came to be extinct. But you can, perhaps. And along the way, you might unlock more secrets to necromancy. More ways to perfect the new body that you transfer for. Every bit of necromantic knowledge you could ever imagine is hoarded within there, ripe for the picking. Not just what was written in booksâwhat was written in their minds. Itâd be the greatest heist of the century.â
âYes, because you care so very much about the field of necromancy.â Garm spoke distantly. âYou just want to scramble my head. Iâm not an idiot.â
âDonât you want to know how people remembered you after you died?â Argrave asked. âI know I would.â
Garm rubbed his leathery lips, thinking hard as that dimly illuminated abyss awaited ahead. Argrave let him think in silence. Then, Garm stood and began to walk. He lacked the carefree vigor he had, instead walking measuredly and solemnly. Argrave followed right behind, eager to learn the truth of the man that wasâand isâGarm.
Hopefully, learning about the legacy he left behind might make him want to forge a new one, with what time heâd been reallotted.